Quotes of the day

posted at 8:01 pm on February 10, 2013 by Allahpundit

“This is a bad idea whose time has come,” former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a powerhouse fundraiser for Crossroads, said of the new organization, according to an email Monday to donors from Steven Law, head of the Crossroads groups and Conservative Victory Project.

Law outlined plans to essentially perform oppo research [on conservatives] and grade potential candidates on a variety of factors that might affect their ability to win a general election contest, including using fundraising reports “like earnings calls” to evaluate “the competitiveness of candidates.” And he signaled that Crossroads would mobilize other big-money groups in its network to help avert damaging primaries…

But Rove’s involvement in primaries could inflame opponents, predicted Matt Hoskins, executive director of the Senate Conservatives Fund PAC. “Their activities are going to actually have the opposite effect of what they’re trying to do,” he said. “It could actually make it easier for conservative candidates to win primaries.”…

“We discourage our people from supporting third-party candidates by saying ‘that’s a big mistake. We shouldn’t do that’,” [Tea Party Express founder Sal Russo] said. “But if the position [Rove’s allies] take is rule or ruin — well, two can play that game. And if we get pushed, we’re not going to be able to keep the lid on that.”

***

One high-profile Republican strategist, who refused to be named in order to avoid inflaming the very segments of the party he wants to silence, said there is a deliberate effort by party leaders to “marginalize the cranks, haters and bigots — there’s a lot of underbrush that has to be cleaned out.”…

So a political colonoscopy is going on before our eyes. Republican after Republican told us the party dodged a bullet with Mitt Romney’s loss: If he had squeaked in, this vital reboot would have been delayed four or eight years…

Stone said it’s wrong to alienate the conservative base. “These are the storm troops of the Republican Party,” he said, adding that tea party folks ring doorbells and hang signs for candidates. “Don’t offend them”

Stone said Republicans can find electable candidates who also appeal to tea party principles. But a group that divides a minority party, he added, “that’s like pre-meditated suicide. I’m not for a suicide PAC.”

***

Matt Kibbe of FreedomWorks openly scoffed at the notion that Rove’s network would be able to pick winners and losers. “The guys who fund groups like Rove’s want to re-establish that they’re in charge, but they just don’t understand the inevitable decentralization and democratization of politics,” said Kibbe. Club for Growth president Chris Chocola seconded that motion: “When you think about a Republican primary, and you think about a principled conservative versus a moderate Republican – well, our model wins more often.”

Rove’s apparent apathy toward the Tea Party has obviously generated antipathy for his views. As Mark Levin has pointed out, Rove recently bragged about spending some $30 million on Senate Tea Party candidates and $25 million on Tea Party House candidates — but American Crossroads reportedly spent some $400 million in the 2012 election cycle, meaning that only about $1 out of every $8 was spent on Tea Party candidates.

Paul pushed back Sunday on the notion that Rubio, or any other Republican, has been anointed as the “face” of the Republican Party, making the case that Republican lawmakers sometimes have different priorities.

“I don’t think anybody gets to choose who the face is, or say you or someone else is the face. I think we do the best to promote what we believe in,” Paul said, pointing to his own vocal opposition to sending U.S. foreign aid money to certain countries like Egypt and Pakistan.

Rove believes that candidates like O’Donnell gave away likely seats in Nevada, Colorado, Indiana, and Missouri during the last two election cycles. The GOP might control the Senate today if sharper candidates had prevailed.

This line of thinking outrages movement conservatives and Tea Party activists. They chalk up the defeats to the liberal media, which lampooned true conservatives by fixating on their minor missteps. By pledging to support more electable candidates, Rove is buying in to the frame that the media puts around true conservatives.

This theory may be reasonable or it may be poppycock. Either way, Rove’s detractors should thank him for bringing the debate into the open. Rove’s new effort is good for the Tea Party in the way that doubters are good for religions. No faith worthy of its Sunday parishioners crumbles under a challenge. Leaving aside whether Rove is really challenging the core of Tea Party beliefs, his efforts force those who hold a different view into being clearer about what they believe. Only if they go through that process can they make their case to Republicans who aren’t already true believers. Plus, if they can’t beat Karl Rove at the internal game, they’re not going to be able to beat the Democrats.

***

Back then, and even now, 41 years later, Rove was not a radical or what they called a “movement” conservative. He was a geeky outsider who longed for the power and money and connections that he thought would be available to him in politics in general and as a Nixon acolyte in particular. Nixon hated the country clubbers, but for social not philosophical reasons, and he drew to his side outsider operatives such as Rove with a lust for power…

Tea Partiers rightly ask what Rove and his rich-as-Croesus American Crossroads super PAC have gotten for conservatives or even the GOP. Rove is a master tactician, but not necessarily a great judge of political horseflesh. His taste tends to run to rich guys who can pay him a lot — which worked out well only in the case of W., and then only by skin of Justice Antonin Scalia’s (“get over it”) teeth…

Deep-dyed conservatives have a right to ask the Roves of the world what the establishment GOPers have done to erase the debt, limit the reach of the federal government or enhance a libertarian view of the world. The answer, to the Rand Pauls of the world, is simple: nothing…

He’s done.

***

Hear this: extremist ideology is one crucial element of being a bad candidate. There is no good way to phrase the idea that rape victims should be compelled to bear their rapist’s child. Ditto for the idea that those people who can’t find work in the throes of the worst jobs crisis since the 1930s are moochers and takers.

But there is an idea that can be phrased, and it is this:

It’s long past time to create within the Republican party an organized force to fund and support moderate-minded candidates. The Tea Party types do not hesitate to champion their views. Why would it be wrong for moderate Republicans to do likewise? Karl Rove won’t lead that effort. Somebody should. Who?

***

Why are people giving money to Karl Rove when he just wasted $400M without any victories? Use your head.

There’s been a lot of calls for Republicans to change. And we have seen that from everybody to Paul Ryan to Marco Rubio. Now we’re beginning to see the donor class really begin to change. There is some question, are they trying to change just the candidates, so they don’t get Todd Akin, or they trying to actually change some of the substance?

And, so far , it seems to be just the candidates. One of the interesting things — and I can’t say I know the answer to this — is, how much will the Tea Party fight back? There has been some effort that they are saying, oh, the establishment is taking over.

But my own sense of things so far is that there is not the will to fight among the Tea Party and that a lot of people in the Tea Party are, frankly — they’re not — they are also Republicans. And a lot of — say, Rush Limbaugh, for example, who is not Tea Party, he’s more an establishment Republican who wants the Republican Party to win.

Blowback

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Are you arguing that the magazine can withstand repeated use and is a viable alternative? Because the people arguing with you are arguing it isn’t. If that wasn’t the argument you wanted to make, you could have said:

“True. But I don’t think it will be long before all the magazine capacity arguments are moot.”

– And you would have been finished.

Axe on February 11, 2013 at 12:08 AM

What the heck are you talking about? It’s Tom that is turning this into a rivalry, not me. All I did is post a link to a cool video about 3D printable 30 round magazines like those the government is trying to ban and he is being argumentative apparently because he’s loyal to a competing technology, (which doesn’t have a downloadable magazine available). Frankly I could care less who was first, but in fact it appears 3D printers were first, and the guy in the video and the people he worked with to make it available deserve the credit that is due to them, which Tom refuses to acknowledge. Frankly I think that is a matter of civility. Trying to deny somebody, (not me), where credit is due is not very civil and that is Tom’s problem, not mine.

Perhaps there is some sort of age gap that is making it difficult for Tom to understand my point. The point is that thousands of people have already downloaded this 3D printable 30 round mag from the Internet and it’s impossible now for the government to delete them. They can be copied around from person to person forever and the government can’t stop it. Sure, with a lot of skill and hard work it can be done the old fashioned way, or new with computer controlled million machines, but not just anybody can do that, at least not yet.

Only 3D printers can make the DL and print claim, and that is significant not because of their quality, good or bad, but because it makes them impossible to ban.

Rove’s apparent apathy toward the Tea Party has obviously generated antipathy for his views. As Mark Levin has pointed out, Rove recently bragged about spending some $30 million on Senate Tea Party candidates and $25 million on Tea Party House candidates — but American Crossroads reportedly spent some $400 million in the 2012 election cycle, meaning that only about $1 out of every $8 was spent on Tea Party candidates

Well that wasn’t in the Primaries; Rove/RINOS supported the other RINOS running. AFTER the Primaries THEN they donated their $1.00.

Go ahead Rove, make my day. I have a message for Rove/RINOS and their RINOPACS, I’ll vote for a Democrat before I’ll vote for another RINO picked by these traitors!!

WAIT! You said you were at Reactor #1 at San Onofre – THAT is the one that is a historical artifact for the development of Fuel in the industry, with a Spherical Containment, and the Feedwater Pumps are the Safety Injection Pumps. The 3410 MWt CE plants are units 2 and 3! Right?

Rove believes that candidates like O’Donnell gave away likely seats in Nevada, Colorado, Indiana, and Missouri during the last two election cycles. The GOP might control the Senate today if sharper candidates had prevailed.

Here’s your record Rove; why don’t you talk about your great success?

they have such a great track record, don’t they? The hundreds of millions of dollars Rove and company spent over the last couple years have given us President Romney, Senator Dewhurst of Texas, Senator Berg of North Dakota, Senator Thompson of Wisconsin, Senator Rehberg of Montana, Senator McMahon of Connecticut, and Florida Senator Charlie Crist, to name a few. With a stellar track record like that, I can’t wait to see who they pick next. Oh wait. C4P

OT: One of my favorite bands, Halestorm won the Grammy for Best Hard Rock/Metal Album. All the nominated bands were awesome in the category but I’m glad they won. Just saw them live back in November here in Omaha, NE.

WAIT! You said you were at Reactor #1 at San Onofre – THAT is the one that is a historical artifact for the development of Fuel in the industry, with a Spherical Containment, and the Feedwater Pumps are the Safety Injection Pumps. The 3410 MWt CE plants are units 2 and 3! Right?

williamg on February 11, 2013 at 12:29 AM

Reactor 1 (SONGS-1) was rated at 1347 MWt. It was shut down in 92, yes 2 & 3 were The 3410 MWt, and… they’re both shut down now as well.

SONGS-1 is mostly gone now, disassembled down to the reactor chamber itself and the ocean water exchange system.

The better half was familiar with what you were talking about as you said good night because of her field of expertise. I however had to look it up and read about it. Can I just have a poem to read about next time.

No, the follower was printed on the 3D printer as well, everything but the spring. And yes, I’ve fired thousands upon thousands of rounds over the years, which I know for a fact because I used to buy ammo by the case at first, collected the brass, and then reloaded it 1000 at a time on my Dillion 550b. I don’t have an AR-15, though, but do have a Browning 30-06.

YES! And I thought I recognized your lithesome silhouette there at the end in the sunset, too. Can’t figure out what happened to Spark, though since he wasn’t there in the sunset, too… maybe he had a phone call. :)

My father had a beautiful singing voice and he used to sing that song to me when I was a kid. I grew up on a ranch and spent half of my life on horseback… so it really hits home. Thanks for posting it, Arnold. You brought back some great memories. :)

Rather, I did have one, but I loaned it out to a friend who was on a canoe trip, the canoe overturned and, alas, the rifle washed down the river and into a dam, never to be seen again. My friend says he had a round in the chamber and between that and all the metal he was so afraid that he might have damaged the turbines and get in trouble that he ran, or swam rather, away.

Rather, I did have one, but I loaned it out to a friend who was on a canoe trip, the canoe overturned and, alas, the rifle washed down the river and into a dam, never to be seen again. My friend says he had a round in the chamber and between that and all the metal he was so afraid that he might have damaged the turbines and get in trouble that he ran, or swam rather, away.

FloatingRock on February 11, 2013 at 1:02 AM

ROTFLMAO… Funny how since O’Barky was elected nearly half of the legally owned firearms in America seem to have suffered eerily similar fates… ;p

Thanks, just something for fun. We laid low this weekend. I did some pressure washing, some gardening. Maintenance, chores mostly. Finally a reprieve when the rain showed. Did you have a lovely weekend?

What we have to do is simply stop running stupid candidates who simply claim to be conservatives. Running O’Donnell in Delaware against Castle was STUPID. Yes, Castle is a rather liberal Republican but he was much better than the person who is now in the seat. Castle would have easily won the election.

Running Todd Akin in Missouri was STUPID. *ANY* of the other candidates were polling ahead of McCaskill.

Primarying Lugar was STUPID. Sure he wasn’t the epitome of a staunch conservative, but he was a lot better than who is in that seat now.

Running Ken Buck in Colorado was STUPID. Jane Norton would have won that election.

We need to make role of government the primary issue. If you want to campaign hard on social issues in purple or blue states, you are going to lose. Period. Reagan didn’t campaign on social issues, he campaigned on role of government, economics, and defense issues. You want to go on a rampage on the abortion issue, you are going to be taken apart by the media and made to look stupid.